Advertising Planner to VC?
I have a question about undertaking a pretty non-traditional path to the world of VC. Does anyone know of anybody in the VC world who has come from an advertising role?
I currently work as head of digital strategy at a mid-sized ad agency with a nice roster of blue chip clients. I've also had the opportunity to work with two start-ups who we did some reduced rate work with and loved it. So much in fact that I've become increasingly interested in working in VC. Going through this process, I've worked with our clients' investors and have been struck by how little they understand about brands. Building them for their portfolio companies or understanding how their portfolio companies can build them for their customers. This leads me to my question:
Is there room in the VC world for someone who can help identify investments who have the potential to build meaningful, iconic brands and can help them do so once the investment has been made?
Part of the brand planning process is analyzing a company's consumers, category and the culture that surrounds it to identify strategic spaces to shift the brand to. Part of the analysis is qualitative: talking to consumers, partners etc (or listening to social conversations) to generate hypotheses of brand opportunities. Part is quantitative: testing through quant research, modeling opportunity size etc.
Personally, I started my career in finance (fortune 500 finance department, blah) and studied business in college so I am rusty but can pretty quickly get up to speed on things like DCF modeling where need be.
There's been a trend in the vc world recently toward building up teams of operations partners whose primary roles are to support the startups in an operating capacity, not to make investment decisions. Andreesen Horowitz is famous for this (they have something like 100 employees, an enormous amount for even a vc of their size) and has been a trendsetter. Do some research on other firms that are also following the a16z model too, because there are a lot, although many probably say it more than they mean it. They might be willing to hire a digital branding guy to prove to startups (and LPs) that they really are focused on supporting their portfolio companies. I don't think you would be hired for an investment role (nor am I convinced by your background that you would necessarily be any good at it, and I don't think you know that about yourself either), but you could be hired as an operating partner.
The venture capital industry is all about the network, though, so ease your way in. I would suggest you continue doing consulting work for vc-backed startups (maybe your company would let you do this on the side?), or maybe even volunteer your services to a VC or accelerator. Build relationships amongst investors and entrepreneurs, show you can do valuable work, and then convince them that they should bring you in-house.
thanks for the input. And, yeah. That's kind of what I was thinking would be the most likely way in.
You're right, I don't definitively know if I would be any good at making investment decisions since I haven't actually ever made any with real money. I do strongly believe that I can make good decisions though otherwise, I wouldn't bother to pursue this.
Now, I assume that the lack of actual investing decision making is not uncommon for someone entering this space.
So, three questions: How does someone coming from a more traditional entry point prove that they will be good at making investments? And two, (especially when it comes to early stage stuff) What are some of the key advantages that someone coming from a traditional entry point would have over someone like me when it comes to making those decisions? Finally three, any ideas as to how I might prove that actually, I can do those things or that the other things I can do might lead to similarly high quality investment picks?
Totam sed nihil ut cum qui sed. Dicta quibusdam neque sapiente eos provident.
Ea recusandae sit ut occaecati architecto. Explicabo occaecati iste adipisci voluptatem enim labore. Asperiores natus dolore tempora voluptate nostrum blanditiis.
Modi minus hic fugiat qui nobis rerum accusamus. Corrupti sed voluptas est temporibus. Et quis eveniet voluptatem doloribus fuga. Ut sequi sint alias eos. Aut sint omnis iusto ipsam eius accusamus.
Impedit magnam assumenda ab voluptas dolorum mollitia. Unde sed facere id quos.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...